


And The Third Built A House Of Bricks

by KurooCrow



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brick is my child now, Self-Insert, canon is no match for brick, oc fic, this is a meme that became something more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-01-06 13:51:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18389711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KurooCrow/pseuds/KurooCrow
Summary: It wasn’t until I was about three years old that I saw the village I was born into. The fictional village. The one with Hokage faces on the side of a mountain.Fuck.Thus were the humble (second) beginnings of Brick Lee, Konoha’s number one wildest ninja.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was a meme idea that turned into a full fic god rest our souls.

Waking up in a body not your own, in an unfamiliar place, is an experience so intrinsically wrong and disturbing that it took me an embarrassingly long time to bring my mind back from the white noise it had been stuck on. When I finally calmed down enough to try and figure out what was happening, I was struck by the fact that my hands were small and pudgy and I couldn’t even lift my head. After I realized that i was a fucking _baby, oh my god what_ , I had a _small_ mental breakdown. Understandable, if you ask me, seeing as I had previously been a 21 year old American girl.

It got a lot weirder. As I grew, I began to spend a lot of time indoors, and it wasn’t until I was about three years old that I saw the village I was born into. The _fictional_ village. The one with Hokage faces on the side of a mountain.

Fuck.

Thus were the humble (second) beginnings of one Brick Lee, Konoha’s number one wildest ninja.

\--

Learning a new language from scratch is difficult, but being thrust into a new existence tends to be pretty sink or swim. So I learned Japanese. Fast. However, learning the language and connecting the dots about your own name are different things. Who expects the english sounding “brick” being bandied about to be applied to you, let alone be your name? Who names their daughter Brick, anyways? Hina and Stone Lee, apparently. Unfortunate naming system aside, I couldn’t complain about my new parents. Hina was a doting mother, and Stone was pretty relaxed about all of the trouble I caused them. Which was a lot. I was an adult trapped in a child’s body, there was no way I was sitting still and pretending to learn how to do basic human functions. Hina, bless her heart, was a bit clueless about a child’s normal development, and didn’t have any friends with children who she could compare to. So I was free to progress at my own pace, and by god I did. Soon, I was three, then five, then six, and a second earth shattering surprise knocked me off my feet. Lee had been a very familiar name, niggling at my memory, but I figured it had to be a common surname in Konoha. Nope.

Rock Lee was born november 27th, when I was six years into my new life. Up until that point, I was content in my obliviousness, preferring not to know when in the timeline I happened to be, besides the general guide the number of faces on the mountain gave me (there were four). I was living one day at a time, rather than worry about the plot of a anime I saw years ago, that might not even apply to _this_ iteration of Konoha. All of that changed when my younger brother was born. Suddenly, I was uncomfortably aware of the future challenges the precious little dude in my arms was going to go through. That all of Konoha was going to go through.

Oh god. I had been wasting time. There was a literal goddess planning world domination and I had been pulling pranks and annoying our neighbors for the past six years. _I wasn’t ready._ But, gazing at the infant in my arms, I promised that I would be.  
“Hey dad? I’d like to join the Academy”.

\--

Inuzuka Hana had been looking forward to this moment her entire life. She was finally starting the academy! It seemed like _forever_ of waiting, but she was here! The academy was a large building that she had passed so many times with her mother, but today it looked different. More majestic. Maybe that was just because the fourth Hokage was giving a speech. It didn’t matter. Looking over at the kids who would be her future classmates, Hana was startled to see so few fellow clan members. There was an easily recognizable Aburame a few feet away, and a blonde haired kid who might be a Yamanaka further down. Oh! There! There was a boy with jet black hair who was wearing the Uchiha crest and _was that the Uchiha heir holy crap_. Hana was the daughter of the Inuzuka clan head, but the Uchiha were practically _royalty_. She was so distracted by the Uchiha she almost missed the girl that squeezed in line next to her. She had wild, thick, tangled black hair and the biggest eyebrows Hana had ever seen. Her eyes were almond shaped and a very pretty green, though, and they softened the harsh lines of her face.

Embarrassed, Hana realized she had been staring and had missed half of the fourth’s speech. She quickly turned away and listened attentively, super excited for her first day of classes.

\--

Hana had never looked forward to anything less than she did school. Not only was class boring and hard work, but her classmates were insane. Well, maybe just the few. The Yamanaka, Hide or something, was a bully who liked to pick on the civilian kids, the Uchiha heir was quieter than the average Uchiha (and that was saying something), and the weird civilian girl from the line that first morning _was absolutely nuts._ It was only the second week and Brick Lee was already making trouble. It all started with the Yamanaka cornering her at lunch a few days ago. Hana had been inspecting the trees for a good one to climb when she overheard the Yamanaka loudly confront her.

“What’s up with your hair, huh, _Brick?_ Were you born with a mop on your head or something?” he was laughing. Hana was about to go over there and do something, when the quiet girl responded back without a hint of hurt on her face.

“I’m sorry. Who are you again?”

The boy flushed red. Hana was secretly glad that someone else couldn’t remember his name either. “It's Itsuo!” he spluttered, angry. Brick’s eyes looked him up and down, before turning away dismissively.

“Okay, Isao.”

“ _It's Itsuo!"_

And thus, the war began.

\--

Uchiha Itachi regretted being smarter than the average six year old. Not only was school simple and underwhelming, but it meant he noticed things he’d rather not. Their teacher was having an affair on his boyfriend with the chuunin that ran paperwork. The Aburame had a phobia of germs. And Brick Lee was the weirdest fellow genius in the Elemental Nations. Well, he assumed she was a genius. There was no way she was anything but, what with the way she seemed to breeze through certain subjects like math and science. It was almost like she knew it all before the teacher taught it. Even Itachi at least needed to be _told_ the material once to know it. Brick Lee just seemed to know. Except, not everything. Her knowledge of some subjects seemed so effortless that Itachi was surprised she wasn’t part Nara. Yet she struggled with some simple shinobi concepts.

At first he excused it due to her being from a civilian background, but after a while he noticed the other civilian kids didn’t have the same difficulty. What was so hard about chakra theory? Itachi was starting to think she didn’t even know how to use it. Preposterous. Everyone did, even civilians could and did use chakra in small everyday affairs. But Brick Lee didn’t seem to.

Uchiha Itachi was intrigued.

Not enough to prevent him from graduating early, after only six months of the academy, though.

\--

The academy’s terms ran from December to May, with a small break in May before starting back up again through the summer until late October. This meant that my rather dramatic declaration to my parents about going to school was fortunately timed: a couple weeks later and I would have missed the sign up for December. The schedule was weird to me, but after some quick research at the library I learned it was an administrative leftover from civilian schools, where kids needed off for the traditional planting and harvest seasons.   
  
Having school practically year round was a little grating, but made sense. Shinobi don’t exactly believe in 3 month summer vacations.   
  
School was... well, it just _was_. Sitting through basic arithmetic and science was mind numbing, but history was at least interesting as it was new to me. The kunoichi classes were practically useless to me, so I pretty much slept through them. Why would I need to know flower arranging? The teachers couldn’t get mad, though, since I did well on tests anyways. The only thing giving me trouble was the fucking ninja magic bullshit called chakra.   
  
I couldn’t understand how to use it! I could _feel_ it, kind of hard not to when you’re used to a world without it, but I didn’t know how to mold it. It just sat there, humming under my skin. If I focus on it for too long it almost feels like that pins and needles sensation after your leg falls asleep. Still, knowing something is there and actually using it are two different things. Imagine waking up with a tail and trying move it, only the tail is a mysterious force.   
  
Because of my... issues... with chakra, I focused on my body, trying to build up all the endurance and speed my little six year old body could handle. I was wary about training with weights or otherwise attempting to build muscle mass, as I was pretty sure that was bad for developing bodies.   
  
Therefore, days were spent in classes, training, and annoying the ever loving shit out of Yamanaka Itsuo.   
  
Hey. He started it.  
  
Besides, the kid was so easy to rile up, and while teasing him made his anger skyrocket, things never escalated into violence. Did I feel bad about picking on a kid mentally years younger than me? _Nope._

Outside of Itsuo, my classmates were an interesting mix of fellow civilians, clan kids, and a couple honest to god canon characters. Yeah. Imagine walking into school and seeing  _ genius clan killer and villain-hero-tragedy Uchiha fucking Itachi _ . Oh and Inuzuka Kiba’s older sister was a surprise. I was a little glad when Itachi graduated early. Looking at his face was making me a little sad and a little terrified at the same time. Eventually, though, I got used to sharing my days with children, and the first year passed quickly enough. I even managed top rankings after Itachi wasn’t around to fill the top spot. 

\--

After I turned seven, and passed my first year of the Academy, and just before little Rock Lee turned one, the worst night of my Second Life came. After all...

  
Hell hath no fury like a Kyuubi scorned.    



	2. Brick 2 Electric Boogaloo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brick breaks canon unintentionally and with wild consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously don't know what I'm doing lmao rip.

In the aftermath of large scale tragedies, often times people will recount to each other where they were that day when it happened or when they heard the news: “I was at work, in a meeting, when it happened” or “I was in science class when the teacher turned on the news”. It becomes a collective memory, a collective experience in the minds of many. 

The night of October 10th, I had been walking through the south market district on my way back home from a late errand Hina had sent me on. One moment I was passing a restaurant- the smell of grilled meat, and spices- when there was a split second of terror in my bones and then suddenly the thick, heavy, malevolent chakra of the kyuubi filled the air. The eggs in my hand dropped, forgotten, and I  _ ran.  _ I was panicking, stumbling, I couldn’t even  _ breathe _ the air was so heavy with chakra. 

I forgot.

_ I forgot. _

Oh, the kyuubi attack had been in the back of my mind, I knew it was something that HAPPENED, but when it happened? I thought I had more time! Who remembers obscure trivia like the dates of fictional events they read about years ago? Jesus I was a  _ fool.  _ I had to get home, towards my parents, towards my baby brother. 

I ran. 

… right into Yamanaka Itsuo. We both stumbled, surprised, as dust and smoke swirled between us. His blonde hair looked silver in the moonlight. There was a moment of silence before we both started running again, in the same direction. Did he live near me? Why didn’t he live near the Yamanaka district? It didn’t matter. We ran. Between us there was only the sounds of shaking breaths, but around us? Konoha was a cacophony of screams, glass shattering, jutsu flying, and shouting voices. Above it all was the ear splitting shrieks of the kyuubi’s rage. Luckily, it seemed to be on the east side of the village, but looking at the size of it against the horizon, I knew it could traverse that distance in seconds. The ground shook with each of its steps. 

I realized then that we were being idiots: in the event of a disaster, civilians, the young, and the elderly would be heading towards the shelters at the base of the hokage mountain, west of us, and opposite the village from kyuubi. 

“Itsuo!” I shouted. There was a flash of surprise on his face, before I quickly grabbed his arm and jerked us to the left. He started to pull away but I held firm. “We need to go to the shelters. It’s where our families will be, and where we  _ should  _ be.” I explained between ragged breaths. All of the fight went out of him at that, and we continued on. However, children have small legs and little endurance, and we were no exception; the dead sprint quickly turned into a jog, then a fast walk. Konoha is deceptively large, and it didn’t help that normal routes would often be blocked by a toppled building, forcing us to either backtrack and go around or to climb through the rubble.

It was at one of those impasses that we found the kid, maybe 14, genin by the looks of him. Me and Itsuo were just dropping down from an exposed wall when I saw a pale hand against the dark ground. My eyes followed it up the arm and to the shoulder it belonged to- I had to hold in a shout- I’d almost stepped on his exposed ribcage. It looked like part of the wall had collapsed on him, crushing the lower half of his body. Itsuo, wondering why I stopped, turned back and his eyes widened so far I saw the whites of them. We made eye contact, and slowly moved on, spurred into action by another wave of chakra from the kyuubi. I’m quietly surprised it’s the first body we encountered. 

We eventually make it to the shelters. A couple blocks away, an Uchiha Military Police officer searching for citizens spotted us and ushered us into shelter B. Despite what was happening to the village, the shelter was relatively calm. Aside from the low murmur of conversation, children crying, and bodies shifting echoing in the large space, the shelter was quiet. Its as if no one wants to break the fragile atmosphere. 

Someone had set up a central point, a place to check in and to reconnect loved ones if they were there. After checking the list, filled with scrawled names, both Itsuo and I were disheartened to find no one familiar. So, tired and sore, we find an empty piece of floor and sit together. 

There’s silence between us for a while. Itsuo looks distant and lost. I’m just thinking about my family- my second family, just beginning to be precious after 7 years. My brain keeps spitting out worst case scenarios. Realistically I understood that  _ a version  _ of Rock Lee survived canon- but this wasn’t canon, was it? Had I fucked something up just by existing?

Just as my thoughts were slowly leading me further and further down into the dark, Itsuo speaks-

“I was going to visit my mother and sister. Akito’s gonna be four soon and she’s so excited. Mom…” he continues on, not pausing for breath. It’s clearly nervous babble, just stream of consciousness, but I listen attentively anyways, and learn. 

It turns out Itsuo’s dad, Yamanaka Hibari, died in tail end of the third shinobi world war, leaving his pregnant wife alone with a young son. Devastated, she grew to hate the shinobi lifestyle, and when Itsuo announced his intentions of attending the academy, she left the clan compound to go live with her sister, bringing Akito with her. Itsuo stayed in the clan, and now lives with his paternal grandparents. Despite his strained relationship with his mom, he still visits his sister weekly. He was going to visit them tonight, thus why he was on the streets when the kyuubi attacked. 

My heart yearns for him. His home life sounds unstable, and despite going to school to be a shinobi, to be a killer, he’s just seven years old. A kid. I can’t excuse his behavior towards other kids at school, but I can understand it. I quietly add him to my list of people I want to protect. 

Eventually, though, even the longest night must end, and with the rising of the sun comes the end of the state of emergency. The kyuubi had long gone silent, and I knows that means the end of the fourth hokage’s reign, and the birth of a new era. Naruto Uzumaki, Child of Prophecy, the future hokage- cries into the dawn. 

—

Itsuo is reunited with his family first. I watch as he tearfully hugs his grandparents, before looking away. It takes another hour of painful waiting before a shout startles me out of a light doze- 

“Brick! Oh, my baby!” 

It’s Hin- _ mom  _ and I sag with relief when I see my brother in her arms before I’m also swept up into them. We spend a long moment just breathing, my face smushed into her side before she leans back, eyes red and puffy, and looks me over frantically. 

“I’m fine mom” I say quietly. “Where’s dad?” 

The lines around her eyes tighten, and she shakes her head slowly, and I go cold and still. She doesn’t have to say anything. I already know. 

—

Konoha is a disaster. Just barely recovered from the third war before it’s all undone in one horrible night. The casualties, civilian and shinobi alike, as well as the massive damages to infrastructure and land all add up to a severely weakened state. The following weeks are spent in damage control and cleanup, with the fourth hokage’s wake followed by several mass funerals. It’s devastating. 

The day before dad’s scheduled funeral, I’m walking through the wrecked Konoha to find some flowers for him. It’s clear, looking to the rooftops, that even with limited personnel the shinobi force has ramped security. I assume it’s in case another nation decides to kick us while we’re down. Even the normally hidden ANBU are patrolling in plain sight. Somehow, in a way, that makes the attack seem so much more real than the collapsed buildings.

Entering the Yamanaka district, I’m shocked to see clan children handing out beautiful origami flowers. They look to be made out of anything paper- newspapers, fliers, ruined book pages. I’m even more surprised to see Itsuo sitting on a patch of grass, teaching fellow kids how to fold them. I watch, stunned for a beat, before making my way over and plopping down next to a startled Itsuo. Wordlessly, he hands me a piece of paper- part of a water stained scroll on economics- and I carefully follow along as he folds a lily into bloom. 

—

After placing a bouquet of paper flowers onto dad’s grave (something which sets off a ringing note of familiarity in my head), I turn and return to go back to our thankfully mostly intact home, walking a step behind mom’s back. 

Mom gets real quiet and snappy sometimes, now, but I understand. I too, cycle between rage, and despair, and an overwhelming emptiness that threatens to consume me. How could I have forgotten the most important event of the plot? What motherfucker even put me in this world to begin with? For what reason? 

Could I have even done anything?

… Should I have?

It doesn’t matter. It’s over now, and all that’s left is to move forward. 

—

I start a journal, written in English, and write down everything I remember from canon. I take care to not use names, and instead use code names, just in case. I take vicious, childish satisfaction in dubbing Obito “Fucking Filthy Toe Rag”. It’s a little long and unwieldy, but I’m just angry and petty enough to use it anyways. My little brother is lovingly referred to as Pebble. 

I also train. Since school has been canceled for the foreseeable future while things are slowly repaired, I throw myself into getting stronger, faster,  _ better.  _ I throw caution to the wind in regards to potentially damaging my body and wrap heavy pieces of scrap metal to my shoes and around my arms. I’m sure I look ridiculous, but no one comments, least of all my mother. Sunup to sundown I alternate my days between going to the library, running laps, and helping with reconstruction efforts. I figure if future Lee can become one of the strongest shinobi in his generation through sheer hard work, then by god I could too. 

I find myself often working construction alongside Inuzuka Hana and one of her cousins, Shippo, and his partner Aozoramaru, a beautiful Husky looking dog with blue eyes. 

One day, while hauling supplies between construction sites, Shippo sets his last load of bricks down, before leaning back and cracking his spine with a series of pops. “Man,” he says, groaning, “I feel like a genin again, doing D ranks”. Aozoramaru perks up at his words but quickly goes back to looking bored when it’s clear he’s just complaining. Hana’s got her own cart of supplies. 

I don’t reply, too busy struggling with a bag of unmixed mortar. Despite a month now of training and rebuilding, I still struggle. I’m seven for fucks sake. I can feel Shippo watching, and self conscious now, I snap out. 

“What?” 

“Why aren’t you using chakra to lift that?” He looks puzzled.

“I can’t. Don’t know how” I mutter. Shippo looks personally affronted, like I insulted him or something. 

“What do you mean you don’t know how?” He’s looking at me intently now. I’m a little nervous. 

“It just.. doesn’t work?” I say tentatively. Hana’s head whips around at that, eyes wide. 

“You’ve been hauling shit around for a month without chakra?” She asks. I’m getting really nervous now. It’s not that weird, right? 

Hana and Shippo trade looks, seemingly having a conversation with their eyes alone, before Hana grabs me by the hand and starts pulling me, work forgotten. I look back to see Shippo quickly finishing up before Hana almost jerks me into a wall and I pay attention to my feet again. 

“Shippo’s sister is a sensor, AND a medic! She can tell us what’s going on! She’s probably at the kennels right now! C’mon!” Hana says giddily. I’m a little afraid of how excited she is about this, before I remember that she becomes a medic nin in the future and weird chakra phenomena are probably right up her alley. 

Shippo’s sister is beautiful, obviously Inuzuka, and as no nonsense as they come. Once Hana explains my situation to her, she puts a glowing green palm against my sternum, frowning. A few moments pass before she looks puzzled, and repeats the diagnostic jutsu. 

“Well,” she says slowly, pulling her hand away, “it appears that you have an extremely high amount of spiritual energy compared to physical. Since physical augmentation of strength is a primarily yang technique, I’m not surprised you’ve been having trouble.” 

“So…?” I trail off. She seems to understand, though.

“Until you can balance out the two, at least enough, you won’t have enough physical energy to mold enough chakra to perform techniques. Physical energy should come with age, and exercise. You’ll be a bit behind everyone else in terms of chakra, but you’ll get there eventually. Until you can start using chakra properly, I’m afraid your coils will be underdeveloped compared to your peers.” 

Well, shit. That’s better news than being unable to use chakra at all. I’ll take it. 

Thanking her profusely, me and Hana leave the clan kennels and make our way back into Konoha proper. Hana’s looking at me kinda funny, but I ignore it like a champ. Thinking about it, won’t Lee have an issue with chakra? Thank god mine seems to be relatively easy to fix. 

—

Hana’s starstruck. 

She has never seen anyone cooler than Brick Lee. Well, maybe her mom. Her mom kicks ass. But Brick Lee has been keeping up with her and her cousin doing repairs for a month now. Without chakra! She made top of the class! Without chakra! She’d seen the makeshift arm and leg weights too. If that isn’t badass, she doesn’t know what is. 

So cool. 

She hopes to be like that someday. 


	3. Brick 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay for this fic character names will be family then given (for example Uchiha Itachi), with the exception of Brick Lee and Rock Lee, as that’s how Lees name is ordered in canon. Why? I don’t know. Because he’s coded as foreign? Anyways, Brick is used to Rock Lee being referred to as Lee, even though it’s their family name (we know this because canon lee has a son, metal lee). I’ll probably switch between calling him Lee and Rock so I’m sorry if that’s annoying or confusing... it just feels so unnatural to call Lee “Rock” lmao. So. Everyone is Family, Given except the Lee family, who is Given, Family.

Konoha rebuilds. And after enough time, the academy is remade and classes begin as usual. Classes get steadily harder, if only slightly, with the addition of jutsu theory and kunai throwing, but not enough to be mentally stimulating. It makes it incredibly tempting to just sleep through classes. However, with the news that I could use chakra as soon as I gain more physical energy, I’m suddenly more enthusiastic about taking studies more seriously, and I retain top spot of the class. 

Things start becoming routine, then habit, until eventually I don’t even notice them anymore. Things like wearing arm and leg weights (real ones, after Hana gifts me some clan issue weights. Bless clan kids and their easy access to materials), or training daily, or helping mom take care of Rock. Training wise, things go smoothly, especially with weekly sparring sessions with Hana. I start gaining enough physical energy to mold enough chakra to lift heavier objects, which is a plus. Ninja magic is seriously never gonna get old.

I end up hanging out with Hana and Itsuo in my free time. Never at the same time, though. I’m pretty sure I’m the only thing they have in common, and it’s not enough for them to suddenly become besties or something. So, with Hana, I usually train or hang out with her and the Haimaru brothers, who are just puppies at this point. She’s a very loud personality with an even louder laugh. It’s endearing. 

Itsuo, meanwhile, loses some of his young adolescent rage, and channels the rest into his studies instead of picking on other kids. He even teaches me more origami when we hang out for lunch, which is nice. I’m so proud. I even manage to convince his mom to let our respective siblings on playdates. Akito is a little monster and I hope she rubs her hellion tendencies off on Rock, because that kid is too nice for his own good. Even as a toddler it’s apparent. 

So. School, training, chores, eating, hanging with friends, sleeping, rinse and repeat. Like this, two years pass. Relatively well, I’d say. 

\--

That is, until I come home one day a couple weeks after my ninth birthday to find my mom crying. I immediately look for Lee, worried, and relax slightly when I see him safe in the dining room. I’m still really worried, though, since Hina hasn’t cried in two years since dad died. Slowly, like approaching a startled animal, I sit down next to her at the kitchen table. I give it a couple minutes to see if she’ll share unprompted, before giving up and just asking. 

“What’s going on mom?”

Hina is quiet for a moment, before it comes bursting out of her in a rush, “Some shinobi came and asked me if I cheated on Stone. They wanted to know if I- if I was with anyone else before you were born!” I thought she was sad- no, she’s furious. She continues, “some man was asking if I slept with a Nara. A Nara! I have been- was- with your father for years! How could they-” she stops, collecting herself.

I’m gaping. What the fuck? What the hell? 

“Honey, I’m glad you’re doing well in school, but I didn’t realize you were doing  _ that  _ well! They think you must be part Nara or something!” she continues, not noticing my eyes glaze over in panic.

I’m blue screening at this point. 

Wait. “What man?” I ask suddenly. 

“Oh. Um. Shimura something. Hanzo maybe” she replies, wiping her eyes, distracted with Lee coming over to tug on her sleeve.

I’m so still I’m practically marble. I don’t even think I’m breathing. Mom doesn’t notice, but Lee is now watching me with a puzzled expression. 

Somehow I’d attracted the attention of Konoha’s boogeyman. By, what, acing too many tests? There was no way that was  _ that  _ unusual. Right? Fuck, I had to do something, fast. Shimura Danzo was the scariest geriatric motherfucker in the series, simply because his motives were  _ ideological _ . He wasn’t crazy, or obsessed, or bored. He thought he was doing the right thing. Not to mention he ran the village’s  _ shadow _ shadow corps. So underground they were ghosts. Wait. When was Root disbanded? Were they yet? It didn’t matter. What mattered was that I had the attention of a very powerful man and I needed to deflect it. 

I excuse myself after patting her on the back, a little awkwardly. I had some planning to do. 

\--

Sneaking into the academy office after classes wasn’t exactly how I planned to spend my afternoon. Yet- surprisingly easy. I’m sure, however, that when my instructors said to put the skills I’d been learning in class to use they didn’t mean like this. This being sneaking into the office, disarming the traps on the filing cabinet, and copying the test answer keys. Making sure to rearm any traps, I deliberately stopped myself from cleaning up all traces of my presence, leaving one strand of my wild hair. After all, I  _ wanted  _ to get caught. 

My thought process went a little something like this: If I was seen as being genius-level too good at school, then I’d make it so I had been “cheating” my way to the top. I might get in trouble for something I didn’t actually do, but being seen as a cheater was much better than having the old creep interested in my brain. Ew. 

All of this made me feel a little like an imposter, though, since I wasn’t actually particularly smart. I just happened to be a twenty something year old in the body of a nine year old. Of course I’d seem smart. Maybe all of this could have been avoided if I had played dumb in the first place, but just redoing early schooling was horrible in the first place. Intentionally doing badly? No thanks. 

Tucking the files under my shirt, I back out of the office confidently. Even though the hall was empty, it pays to treat the situation as if I were monitored. No one looks twice at someone who is confident and acts like they belong there, doing what they’re doing. 

Praying this works, I go home and wait. 

\--

It takes way longer than I’d expected for me to get called into the office. Like three days. What I wasn’t expecting was for the motherfucking  _ councilwoman  _ Koharu Utatane to be in the room with Kimiko sensei. Oh god.

\--

Koharu watches the girl enter the room. She’s clearly nervous, and showing it, something that will have to be trained out of her. She watches as the child hesitates between the two empty chairs. Surprisingly, she takes the chair against the wall, rather than the expected one closest to the only exit. Koharu approves. It’s much harder to be snuck up on when there’s a wall at your back. The more defensible position compared to the easy exit. Unorthodox, but smart. Brick Lee sits, silent, and waits. 

Koharu signals Kimiko to wait as well. Nothing like a little pressure to make someone tick. 

Yet Brick Lee, despite starting to look supremely uncomfortable, doesn’t crack. Incredible. She’s seen grown men falter under her stare. Maybe that’s the problem- maybe Brick doesn't understand who she’s dealing with. 

“My name is Utatane Koharu, member of the Hokage’s council, and in charge of the academy.” she says after a moment. If anything the girl’s face goes flatter.  _ Superb _ . 

Kimiko takes over, “we’ve called you in today because we have reason to believe you broke into the office” she pauses, before continuing, “there was indication that you forged copies of the test keys.” 

Koharu notices that instead of looking upset, she can see a flash of triumph in the girl’s eyes. Well, that confirms her theory. She deliberately got caught cheating, and probably hadn’t been cheating at all. But why would she go through the trouble of faking all of this? To try and discredit herself? Why would she try to undermine her abilities after gaining some attention? Don't kids normally brag about accomplishments? It didn’t add up, and that was precisely why she was handling this matter personally, and why the girl had been a short topic of debate during the last council meeting. While discussing a civilian child was rather unorthodox, it wasn't unheard of. 

Shifting in the hard chair, Koharu once again wishes her joints didn’t hurt as much as they do. She decides this has gone on long enough. Kimiko cuts off her speech about academic integrity as she leans forward.

“I’ll make this brief.” Koharu cuts in. “I know you faked this whole cheating situation.” The girl starts, and goes to speak, and even Kimiko looks shocked, but Koharu continues on, “Maintaining top spot in grades, sneaking into the office, planting evidence,  _ fooling a chunin _ ” Kimiko makes a strangled sound. She ignores it, and goes on, “All of this points to you being much more advanced than your age group. I cannot allow you to waste time in the academy. I’m placing you in the highest grade until exams in a few months, where you  _ will  _ graduate. Konoha needs potential like yours to be out in the system, not wasting away in the classroom.” Koharu doesn’t miss the way the girl’s eyes widen. Good. 

She stands up, and makes her way out of the room. She can see why Danzo brought the girl to the council’s attention. What an interesting child. 

\--

Hoo boy. Life keeps on finding ways to surprise me. I’m so used to my old way of life that even after nine years in the Naruto universe I’m still stuck in my old ways of thinking. 20 odd years is a lot to unlearn, but I have to, fast, if I want to survive this world, let alone change it. 

I had thought for sure that getting caught cheating was a  _ bad thing _ , and that they wouldn’t look past the evidence of me supposedly stealing test keys. I should have known that to shinobi, that kind of activity is seen as  _ good practice.  _

And while, yes, I absolutely want to get stronger and graduating and being placed under a jounin will help with that, I don’t think I’m physically ready. I still have an unbalanced chakra system, not to mention my body is nine years old. How the hell did Itachi manage becoming a genin years ago? Oh yeah, he’s  _ Uchiha fucking Itachi.  _

And I’m just Brick Lee, whatever that means.

—

Hana gets incredibly sullen when I announce my (forced) graduation. Even the Haimaru brothers look upset. I think she was assuming we’d be on a team together. I’ll admit, that would have been nice. Now I have no idea about what team I’ll be placed with. 

Itsuo, on the other hand, takes my graduation announcement as an excuse to drag me shopping. 

“We have to pick out your shinobi Outfit!” he’s practically vibrating. I could  _ hear _ the capital O. 

“My what?”

“Your  _ outfit,  _ Brick!” He repeats, rather unhelpfully, before sprinting in the direction of the shopping district. All I can do is sigh and catch up. 

Itsuo, as it turns out, is a bit of a fashion fanatic. I suppose, looking at his outfit, it fits. Where he’s wearing a charcoal grey jacket with black pants- all clean lines- I just have on whatever shorts I grabbed that day and a blue shirt with a stain on it. 

“What exactly are we doing?” I ask.

“Shinobi typically wear one outfit or variations of the same outfit all the time and for missions. For some it’s because it’s easy to buy in bulk for when stuff gets wrecked, but for others it becomes part of what people recognize them by” Itsuo explains as we enter a shop called “Onohara Outfitters”. I’m thinking something along the lines of: ‘wearing something recognizable doesn’t sound very ninja like’ when what he said actually registers. 

You’re shitting me. Naruto characters wearing the same thing 24/7  _ wasn’t  _ to make drawing them easier?? It was an actual  _ thing? _ Dear lord how was this my life. 

I end up upsetting both Itsuo’s delicate ninja sensibilities and his fashion sense by picking out various pairs of neon colored shorts and plain white cropped tank tops. He looks vaguely constipated actually. 

The whole outfit is wonderfully tacky, and stupidly eye catching. In my defense, I also bought plated shin guards and gloves, and armor to hide under the crop top. On a whim, I buy a dark grey and sleeveless trench coat, and some long sleeve black shirts and tights for colder weather. 

After parting ways with Itsuo, I rush home and stash my new goodies in my closet, leaving the crop tops out. Grabbing a brush and some ink, I slowly and carefully write out various swear words in English on them. If I couldn’t have dumb graphic tees anymore, then by god I would make them myself. 

Proudly walking into the academy with “S L U T” on my shirt and in bright pink shorts the next day was a religious experience. The look of confusion on Hana’s face was priceless. 

What ruined my fun was realizing nobody else could understand what I put on my shirts  _ because no one else spoke English god I’m a dumbass…  _ but I consoled myself by saying that was just part of the fun. A nine year old kid flaunting profanity right under people’s noses. 

What further ruined my good mood was having to leave my friends behind and move up classes to be with the 12 year olds. Whose heads all immediately swivel to stare at me, in unison. Jeez. How encouraging. 

“Hey kid, you’re in the wrong room” some black haired boy yelled. His hair was stick straight and his face  _ screamed  _ background character, and he was sitting right in front. Aw hell naw. I swerve around him and go sit in the far back, next to a girl with short brown hair. 

“Hey! Are you listening to me?” The same kid goes on. His face gets red when I continue to ignore him. Jesus, was this what my next few months would be like? 

I already missed my friends. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **so apparently rock lee is named after the music genre and NOT the object Im**  
> I figured with names like Rock and Metal they were doing like, building materials,,,, no it's Bc Bruce Lee sounds like Blues Lee so they made rock lee and metal lee I’m screaming
> 
> IN SOME ALTERNATE UNIVERSE BRICKS NAME IS JAZZ OKAY? OKAY.


	4. Brick 4 Open the Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slaps roof of Brick* this bad boy can fit so much anxiety in it
> 
> Also: *chanting* TEAM PLACEMENTS TEAM PLACEMENTS

I’m wandering a dim hallway, chasing a distant melody. It’s muffled, and distant, a half remembered thing. Just words drifting over a faint tune...

“ _ If the sky that we look upon _

_ Should tumble and fall…” _

No matter how fast I move towards it it, it seems to fade out even faster-

I blink awake, unsure why at first, until I notice Lee standing in the doorway of my room, silently watching me. Kids could be so unintentionally creepy sometimes.

“ _ C’mon kiddo”  _ I mutter, the English slipping out on accident.

Sitting up, I motion him over, his tiny feet padding on the floor, and help him up onto my bed. Where he promptly clings onto my side, like some kind of adorable limpet. I sigh, resigned, and let him sleep with me. 

I sleep soundly.

—

All in all, graduation from the academy is relatively easy. There’s the requisite written exam, testing theoretical knowledge, and the practical portion, testing physical skills and our ability to perform one of the basic jutsu taught to us. 

Well.  _ Relatively.  _ The village strikes a delicate balance between being too lenient and getting incompetent kids killed and being too harsh, and having too small of a genin force. As a fail-safe, any that pass the academy graduation who perhaps shouldn’t have, for whatever reason, are weeded out by the team based Jounin test. 

All this means is that the day of my graduation exam, I was more worried about the team I would be placed on than graduating itself. 

My confidence was not misplaced. Easily answering the math questions, and the physics, I was only a little stumped by some of the history. I must have skipped the year I would’ve been taught it. Though, chakra theory was simple considering how much outside learning I dedicated to it out of class. I was glad for my obsessive reading at the library. 

During the practical, I mentally thanked Hana for the help sparring, and for discovering my chakra problem. I  _ trounced  _ the kid I was up against in my spar, mostly because he was either unused to fighting smaller opponents or holding back. I had no such reservations. I was 9 and needed all the help I could get. It was over very quickly- I dodged  _ under _ his first strike and pushed a hand against his chest, simultaneously sweeping a foot behind his ankle. Push and pull- he went down hard, a blunt kunai held to his throat. 

Things seemed to go quickly after that.

Since I was able to work out my body through sparring with Hana so often, I had the physical energy necessary to mold enough chakra for a couple techniques. Enough that I was able to perform the replacement jutsu and pass the exam. 

Soon, too soon, I’m holding a forehead protector. It’s hard to feel the pride I can see reflected in the other graduates eyes. What I feel is grim satisfaction at best. Determination, perhaps. The metal feels cold and heavy in my hands. 

—

Mom and Lee are waiting by the gate when I step out into the sunshine. Hana’s a couple feet away, the Haimaru brothers tussling in the grass. Clearly she stuck around to see how I did. Grinning, I hold up the metal plate, leaf visible. Moms face goes through several emotions: surprise- was that fear? Before settling on a smile. I pretend not to notice and instead let Hana hug me. Her grin is Inuzuka fierce. 

“I’ll catch up” she says, gripping my hand tightly. 

“You better,” I squeeze her hand back, “I’m counting on it”. 

What follows is a round of hugs and congratulations. Team assignments aren’t until tomorrow afternoon, so I have some time to prepare. Mom invites Hana over to dinner and then we part ways, her taking Lee back home while Hana and I head over to a weapons shop. 

It’s an Inuzuka owned one, just outside the clan grounds. The woman behind the counter looks up as we enter and barks a laugh. 

“A new genin, huh? You look especially baby-faced, kid” she says as she stands, tossing the book she had been reading down. I have to crane my head back as she rounds the counter. Wow. She’s tall. 

“Hey, Auntie! Brick needs a weapons pouch and all that” Hana bounces in place. I bet she’s living vicariously through me at this point. 

The woman, whose name I learn is Ashi, helpfully leads me through the process of buying and stocking a weapons pouch, throwing in an extra bundle of kunai for free with a wink. It’s here that I figure out how to wear my new headband. Since my head is too small, and putting it around my arm felt weird, Ashi points out shinobi grade fabric that I can use to customise. She helps me move the metal part of the protector to the new black fabric, and I tie it around my waist like a belt. Paying and then thanking her profusely, we leave just in time to head back to my house for dinner. 

\--

Team placements are held at the academy. I arrive a little early, and sit in my spot at the back of the classroom. I put my head down on my arms and wait. There’s no use trying to guess who I’ll be placed with, considering I didn’t even bother to learn the names of half the kids of my class. It might have been petty, but being forcibly advanced in the middle of a school year didn’t exactly foster warm and fuzzy feelings towards my classmates. All they were were loud reminders of my situation. Therefore, when the teacher finally started calling off names, I only paid enough attention to listen for my name. 

Which didn’t come. 

I watched as more and more kids got paired up and sent off with their senseis, until I was the last one in the room. He waves me down, and I walk to his desk, confused. 

“Your sensei is gonna be a bit late. He wants you to meet him at training ground five” He lifts a scrawled note, waving it in the air briefly before handing it to me as he talks. 

“What about my teammates?” I ask while glancing at the note. It says to meet at 2 o'clock.

“I don’t get paid enough to know or care” he says dismissively, already packing up his things. 

Wow. Okay then. 

I leave the academy, squinting at the bright sunlight. Nervously, I aimlessly wander the streets, killing time until about 1:45. There’s a sale at my favorite bookstore, and the Akimichi restaurant next to it is unsurprisingly busy. I smile as some kid streaks past me, shrieking with laughter. There’s a poor Uchiha MP trying to break up a fight between two civilian men. 

Eventually it’s time to start heading over.

As I make my way to training ground 5, I let my mind wander. Training grounds in Konoha are numbered, but they aren’t laid out in numerical order and there isn’t a training ground for every number. Probably for security. For example, there wasn’t a training ground 17 for some weird reason, and there also wasn’t a training ground 4. I assumed that one was for superstitious reasons. I suppose it makes sense to have a confusing layout, so that only those who have spent time in the village would know how to navigate it. 

My musings are cut short when I get to the training ground and see someone already there, sitting on a stump. They glance up and I freeze, meeting the eyes of Uchiha Itachi. Realizing that I was standing there like an idiot, I quickly walk a couple feet off the path and onto the training ground proper, before slowly sitting down onto the grass. I make sure to sit facing Itachi, eyes staring just slightly to the right of his shoulder. I did not want him at my back.

Hooooooooly shit, I wasn’t expecting to be jump scared like that. Rationally, I knew that as of right now, Itachi was just a kid. Innocent. But that didn’t stop my irrational fear of him. The boy sitting in front of me grew up to be an S-ranked threat that other S-ranks were wary of. Someone who could kill their family like that- under orders or not- was terrifying. Tragic, yeah. But still intimidating and scary. Somehow, during those few months we shared the same class at the academy, he didn’t elicit quite this reaction in me. It must be his hair- it’s grown since the academy and is now in a familiar ponytail. 

We didn’t speak. I waited the agonizing handful of minutes until 2:00 in silence, trying to figure out why Itachi would be at this training ground in particular and just  _ sitting there _ . You’d think he would be, I dunno,  _ training _ or something. Why’d he have to pick  _ my  _ training ground?

My thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of someone else into the clearing. My eyes don’t leave their spot- now at the grass by Itachi's left foot- so I have to wait for them to step into my line of sight. 

“Itachi! Who’s the kid? Your cousin or something?” The new arrival asks, walking into view. It’s a boy, maybe 13, with brown hair and glasses. 

“She,”  _ another _ voice adds, from right behind me, “is your new teammate.” 

I finally tear my eyes from Itachi, and turn to look at the man who spoke. I didn’t even know he was there. He’s tall, with his black hair tied in a ponytail, and green under his eyes. I spot the Nara crest on his sleeve. Is he my teacher? Wait. Teammate? 

I whip back around to look at Itachi. He looks impassive at the news. The glasses kid looks confused. 

I’m screaming on the inside.


	5. 5

Brick Lee looks at him with distrust and it hurts in a way he didn’t expect. The glares of strangers have never reached this deep. Uchiha Itachi had thought that the bright girl he remembered from the academy would be beyond the rumors surrounding the Uchiha following the kyuubi attack years ago. He supposes he thought wrong. 

He stands smoothly as Ensui-sensei beckons them further onto the training field, noting how Brick moves to put Masaru between herself and him. It’s subtle. But he sees it anyways. 

They reach the center of the field and Ensui-sensei sinks to the ground in that boneless way of his that manages to somehow be graceful and ungainly at the same time. Masaru follows suit and Itachi watches as Brick waits to see where he sits before sitting down herself. The foreign symbols on her shirt are stark against the white of the material. 

“Alright kids. Introductions. Name, skills, weaknesses, hobbies. I’ll start. My name is Nara Ensui. I am skilled at my clans jutsu. I could stand to improve my taijutsu. I like to read.” He motions at Masaru. 

“Aw, teach! We already did this!” Masaru groans. 

“It’s not for your benefit, brat. We have a new team member if you haven’t noticed.” 

Masaru goes red, and says, “W-well. I’m Saito Masaru. I’m good at setting traps and throwing kunai. I… I’m pretty bad at recognizing genjutsu. And I like eating good food!” 

Ensui-sensei looks to him next. He thinks for a second before speaking softly, “I am Uchiha Itachi. I am proficient in ninjutsu and genjutsu. I could work on taijutsu as well. I enjoy cooking.” 

Brick looks briefly surprised, but he is unsure at what. He listens carefully, curious what her introduction would include. Her green eyes flick between everyone before she begins to speak. 

“I’m Brick Lee. My strength is taijutsu. My weakness is ninjutsu. I like origami.” 

Itachi wonders at her blunt introduction before remembering that Brick once told a classmate to “eat dirt” because they stepped on her foot. He thinks blunt is a perfect description of Brick Lee. 

Ensui-sensei nods once and stands swiftly. At this point used to sensei’s nonverbal cues, Itachi is already standing before Masaru even begins to scramble to his feet, with Brick close behind. He waits as sensei looks each of them over, before seemingly deciding something with a nod. 

“Alright. Free for all spar, 5 minutes. I want to see where you guys stand, ability wise. Non lethal moves, last one standing gets a clue for what we’re doing later. Go nuts.” 

At his last word, Itachi launches away from Brick, remembering her stated strength in taijutsu. Pulling out a kunai, he waits a beat to see where the others will go. Masaru, obviously forgetting Brick’s introduction, moves to sweep her off her feet. He watches as she deftly sidesteps Masaru’s leg and following punch. She takes advantage of his overextended reach by grabbing his outstretched wrist in one hand and turning, placing her forearm against his shoulder with the motion. A leg hooks behind his ankle. His original momentum combined with her force sends him sprawling in the dirt, glasses akimbo. All of this in the span of seconds.

Itachi, deciding to act while Masaru is momentarily out of the fight, throws four kunai, pinning Masaru’s sleeves and pants to the grass. That would keep him on the ground for a little longer. 

“Hey!” Masaru yells, pulling at his sleeves. 

Brick leaps away from Masaru and towards him, her face like stone, her eyes determined. It almost seems like all of her apprehension towards him vanished in the face of a fight.  

Ignoring Masaru’s continued shouts, Itachi starts the hand seals for a grand fireball, but only gets through boar and horse before he has to abandon the jutsu in order to block a kick. It  _ hurts _ , he can feel the force shuddering through his arms. 

They fight, Itachi retreating a few steps each blow, until he finally completes the hand seals for a fireball and she has to replace with a log to escape it. Finally at a good distance, he throws some shuriken for a distraction and laces a genjutsu over Brick and Masaru, who is just now getting up from the ground. 

Masaru whips around and faces the illusion, a doppelgänger version of himself that is injured and struggling to breathe. It’s not too off the mark. Taking the opportunity to catch his breath- Brick was fast- Itachi watches as Masaru wastes energy fighting the temptingly injured fake, not even noticing the genjutsu. However, his inattention towards Brick- he shouldn’t have taken his eyes off an opponent- caused him to miss her immediately shake off the genjutsu and take off her arm and leg weights. He looks back at her in time to narrowly dodge a first strike before getting nailed in the chest with a kick. She’s even faster! 

He rolls back- bouncing to his feet, and replaces with the same log Brick used earlier. Now across the field, he raises his arms in preparation to block when the fight is interrupted by senseis deep voice. 

“Times up! Itachi and Brick tied for first, seeing as neither of you got knocked out of the fight. Masaru- someone break that genjutsu for him- Masaru came in last. Brick and Itachi each get half of the clue then.” He says. 

Masaru looks sullen as sensei hands a piece of paper to Brick. He slips something gold into Itachi’s hands, and Itachi waits to look at it. Ensui-sensei seems contemplative for a moment before continuing. 

“Find what's hidden in the village. Find and bring it here within three hours. Go.” 

Masaru groans, and Itachi almost wants to as well. The village wasn’t exactly small, and sensei didn’t even say what the object  _ was _ . Well, he supposes there’s nothing for it but to get going. Better start now.

—

Itachi is just walking away, intending to head to the village center, when a hesitant call from Brick brings him back. 

He finds Brick and Masaru huddled over the slip of paper she was given, and steps forward when she tilts it towards him. She still seems a bit wary of him, but less so, now. Maybe they should attempt to beat each other up more often. 

“It will be faster if we work together and pool the clues. Separately they might not mean much but together they might be more informative.” She explains. 

That makes tactical sense. Itachi pulls out the gold object and finally sees that it’s a golden metal… flower? It looks like a keychain and it has a small scratch on the side. He shows it to them, and reads the note as they fiddle with the keychain. 

_ 104 _

How… disappointing. These barely help at all. 

—

“Hey! You took kunoichi classes, Brick, what kind of flower is that?” 

“I have no fucking clue.”

“Perhaps we could ask someone” Itachi murmurs. 

Brick pauses for a second, before exclaiming, “Hmm. Oh! I have a friend who might know! Follow me.” 

Ensui watches them work together and feels immensely proud and incredibly old. He’s only 23 and already responsible for three kids. And two of them are so young…

Despite reading Brick Lee’s file, he was still somehow surprised she held her own against her fellow prodigy. Where Itachi is an all around genius, he had figured that her genius had ended at book smarts. Clearly not. While he would have to see about increasing her chakra reserve size and her control in using it, he was suitably impressed by her taijutsu. It was pretty good, for a fresh academy graduate. He listens as their voices filter up to the roof he’s crouched on. 

“What’s up with you baby monsters, anyways? You freaking five year olds are terrifying!” Masaru complains.

“Hey! We’re not five! We’re nine!” He hears the girl respond. 

“That is incorrect” Itachi cuts in quietly. 

“Besides we’re not tha- wait what? What’s incorrect?” 

“I am not nine. I am seven.”

Ensui watches as Bricks face goes through some impressive contortions as she counts on her fingers. 

“Sevensixfi-  _ YOU WERE  _ **_FOUR_ ** _?”  _ She shrieks. 

Ensui can practically feel Itachi’s confusión from here. It’s all in the kids' shoulders. 

“Yes.”

“YES?? GOD, YOU'RE A  _ CHILD _ WHY DID THEY GRADUATE YOU? Why were you even at the academy that early in the first place?”

Her voice is getting louder and louder. Ensui found the idea of a child calling another kid a child very amusing. And while Ensui silently agrees with her, he finds it rather odd that a nine year old would have the same opinions as him on early graduation. Most kids would be jealous, not incredulous. 

“If an incoming class has too many civilians compared to clan members, the village will approach clans and ask if they are willing to advance younger members. Our original year was the first year in 12 years that the number of civilian students far outweighed clan students. My father was approached, and he agreed it would be good for me to enter early. I believe Inuzuka Hana was another early placement.” 

“But…  _ four.” _

Ensui’s pretty sure the poor girl's brain is breaking. Masaru is laughing, great heaving guffaws of laughter that are shaking his frame. Itachi still looks puzzled. 

Ensui has had Itachi as an apprentice since his graduation at four years old. Masaru and another civilian girl, Rie, were a relatively new addition last year. However, Rie decided to stop her career as a shinobi, leaving the empty spot.

Ensui just hopes the new addition to his team won’t leave like his previous female student did.

—

Eventually, they arrive at an apartment complex near the Yamanaka flower shop, and Ensui watches, intrigued, as the girl drags a Yamanaka boy out of his home and holds up the keychain. From his vantage point, Ensui can only read lips and watch gestures, but it’s enough to see what’s going on. The boy peers at it for a moment, before giving them an answer. 

Smart, making use of an ally with better intelligence. A pity, though, because they were solving this faster than he expected. Wanting to hear their conversation, he moves to a closer roof. 

“Magnolia? Hey Itsuo, what’s the meaning of magnolias?” Brick asks.

“Nobility and purity” he answers with no hesitation. 

“Hmm. Wait, weren’t the clues supposed to be together? Like, one half of the clue went to each of you... So, maybe, we just. Put them together?” Masaru asks haltingly. 

“104 Magnolia… isn’t that an address? Magnolia lane?” 

“Yes. We should go to it.”

They head off. Ensui follows a short distance behind, assessing and curious. So far, he’s pleased. The three of them have worked together to a greater effect than what they could have achieved alone, and they weren’t afraid to seek outside help for their task. He prays this trend continues. 

Brick’s voice carries over as they reach 104 Magnolia lane. 

“Ashi’s store? I was just here yesterday.”

Oh?

The owner of the shop greets the girl boisterously, waving her and the boys inside. Ashi leaves the door open with a wink in Ensui’s direction. He’ll have to thank her later. Their voices drift out the open door.

“Where’s little Hana? I heard you two were inseparable.” 

“Ah, well, this is my genin team, Miss Ashi.” 

His little civilian girl was familiar with a Yamanaka  _ and  _ an Inuzuka? The heir no less. 

“Ha! You must be on Ensui’s team then. You’ll want to take this.” The fierce woman gestures to a package, and Ensui smiles from where he’s lurking across the street. He wonders if they’ll realize.

“Alright! We got it! Let’s go!” Masaru crows. 

“Don’t get ahead of yourselves, kids. He told me to tell you ‘146 Maple street’.” 

“Aw c’mon” he complains. 

“‘146 Maple street’... I suppose we have to go,” Itachi says. 

They go, with Brick waving goodbye. 

—

The next stop is a Akimichi grocery store, which leads them to a bookstore. And so on. 

As they leave each store in the chain he set up, he watches the dawning realization on their faces. It’s Brick who finally states the obvious. 

“That bastard sent us to do his errands!”    
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just because Itachi is observant, it doesn’t mean he understands what he sees.
> 
> So. A quick timeline of ages, for clarity:
> 
> Nara Ensui: 23
> 
> Saito Masaru, 13
> 
> Brick Lee and Yamanaka Itsuo, 9
> 
> Uchiha Itachi and Inuzuka Hana, 7
> 
> Rock Lee (and Hyuuga Neji and Tenten), 3
> 
> Rookie 9, ~2
> 
>  
> 
> What’s less obvious is that the reason why Brick’s year was the first in 12 years to have too many civilians was because she exists. Without Brick, it would have been a normal year, and the clans wouldn’t have been approached and Itachi and Hana would have gone into the academy at the normal age. But since Brick exists, she threw off the student ratio, resulting in an even younger graduation for Itachi. Poor kid.


End file.
